19-year-old faces felony charges after 90-minute incident

By Victoria A.F. Camron Longmont Times-Call

Posted:
01/22/2013 07:04:36 PM MST

Updated:
01/22/2013 10:50:11 PM MST

Kevin Aguirre is taken into custody by Longmont Police officers after a standoff of about an hour and a half on Tuesday night. Earlier in the evening, Aguirre is suspected of having robbed Walmart on north Main Street at gunpoint, leaving with 50 rounds of 9 mm ammunition.
(
Greg Lindstrom
)

LONGMONT -- A 19-year-old Longmont man held police at bay -- at times with a gun pointed against his neck -- for nearly 90 minutes Tuesday night after robbing Walmart of ammunition.

Police took Kevin Aguirre in to custody safely at about 9:13 p.m. He surrendered to Officer Chrystie Wheeler without incident, according to Cmdr. Jeff Satur.

Aguirre was arrested on suspicion of aggravated robbery, but could face other charges in connection with the standoff, Satur said.

Satur did not have all details of the incident available. The following information is taken from emergency radio traffic, unless otherwise noted.

The incident began when police were called at 6:53 p.m. to the Walmart Supercenter at U.S. Highway 287 and Ute Highway for a robbery. An employee in the sporting goods department said a man with a black handgun took a box of 9 mm ammunition.

Several police officers responded, searching the store and the parking lot for a 6-foot-tall Hispanic man with a number of tattoos who weighed about 300 pounds.

During that search, Longmont police dispatchers received a call at about 7:27 p.m. from a South Francis Street home. A resident reported that a friend had stopped by, threatening suicide and saying he had a bullet.

The man did not display a gun. The friend gave police his name and address -- a trailer home in the 1400 block of South Collyer Street. Police and Boulder County Sheriff's deputies responded to that area. Eventually, about 40 officers were at the scene, Satur said.

Within 10 minutes, dispatchers alerted officers that the description of the suicidal man matched that of the robbery suspect.

Longmont Police Cmdr. Tim Lewis said Aguirre was "despondent over a recent crime unrelated to the robbery."

Longmont officers found Aguirre in his vehicle, but when he saw them, he pulled his weapon, Lewis said. He ran to the backyard of his trailer home with a gun to his throat at about 7:51 p.m.

He then led police on a foot chase through the trailer park, with officers following and surrounding him in another backyard a few blocks away.

During the standoff, police found the box of ammunition that had been stolen from Walmart. One bullet was missing from the box.

Wheeler began negotiating with Aguirre at about 8 p.m. He surrendered his gun and gave himself up to police, Lewis said.

Lewis said he was "very happy with how this ended up." Paramedics checked Aguirre for any medical problems related to being exposed to the cold weather during the incident, then police transported him to the police department for processing.

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